Currently there are several types of wave reduction systems used within water mattresses. For example, the patent to Smith U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,789 discloses a hydraulic baffle for a waterbed. The baffle shown in Smith floats freely in the water and has tubular structures extending upwardly therefrom. Unfortunately, the baffle taught by Smith fails to evenly distribute waves over a long period of time because the baffle moves too freely and after an extended use is pulled to one side of the bed's interior.
Another attempt to reduce wave motion is taught by Phillips in U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,510. Phillips teaches the use of an intermediate wall to define fluid tunnels located beneath the intermediate wall.
Zmiarovich U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,333 and Fogel U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,289 still further disclose water mattresses having fluid chambers. Fogel teaches the use of baffles having foam floatation members.
Another wave reduction system is comprised of various numbers of layers of polyester fiber. In cases where these layers of fiber are not secured by some means to the comers of the mattress, the fiber is free to move about within the mattress and can become unevenly distributed within the mattress through use. In cases where the fiber layers are attached by some means to the comers of the mattress, the entire force of the fiber's motion within the mattress is transferred to these attachment points, making them prone to tearing and leaking. In all cases, the fiber layers have the ability to retain water, causing mattresses using fiber layers for wave reduction difficult to drain.
Yet another wave reduction system is comprised of PVC sheeting welded in such a way as to form a plurality of rectangular chambers. The chambers are seamed to a sheet of PVC enclosing some sort of foam, such as PF or EPE, which causes the sheet to float within the water mattress with the plurality of rectangular chambers hanging downward from the floating sheet. In cases where the floating sheet is not attached by some means to the comers of the mattress, the floating sheet is free to move about within the mattress and can become unevenly distributed within the mattress through use. In cases where the floating sheet is attached by some means to the comers of the mattress, the entire force of the motion of the floating sheet within the mattress is transferred to these attachment points, making them prone to tearing and leaking. In all cases, the plurality of rectangular chambers attached to the floating sheet have the ability to retain water, making mattresses using this wave reduction system difficult to drain. Also, the rectangular chambers, which are pressed flat when the mattress is folded for shipment, rely only on gravitational forces to cause them to open out into their rectangular shape when the mattress is filled with water. It can thus take several days before the filled mattress's wave reduction system is functioning properly and, in some cases, the wave reduction system will never function properly because the chambers fail to open.
Another wave reduction system is comprised of PVC sheeting welded to form a plurality of closed cylindrical chambers, such cylindrical chambers being sealed to the bottom surface of the mattress. This wave reduction system introduces a large amount of seal area to the bottom of the mattress which is prone to cracking and leaking over time. Also, a wave moving across such a system can be reduced only by those few cylindrical chambers with which it is in contact at a give time, rather than being acted against by the entire wave reduction system.